Make-Up Snobbery

Four years ago I began blogging;  I was unemployed and living off of what little savings I had at the time. A trip to Superdrug let alone my local Chanel counter was a treat, so I do become a little angry at myself when I disregard a product due purely to it's price bracket. Sometimes I need to remember I am more Jenny from the Block than J-Lo! Before you call me a make-up snob hear me out...

It wasn't so long ago that budget brands (I'm talking MUA, Boots Natural Collection et al) were awful, I'm talking foundations filled with oil that felt like you were slowly suffocating under a thick blanket of orange. Yes orange, as little as six years ago other than the budget brand heavyweights (L'Oreal, Maybelline et al) foundation shades were abysmal. That is why I am so reluctant to try certain brands when it comes to base products. Bourjois Healthy Mix and L'Oreal True Match are two of my favourite foundations ever, but a base product that costs less than £5 will have me thinking and questioning why is it so cheap? Things have definitely improved ten fold but in the same vain I seldom purchase budget eye pencils - not liquid liners but more the traditional pencils. In the past they were dry, tugged on my eye area and didn't present all that much pigmentation. I adopted the why bother approach and shelled out the extra few pounds for a product that I knew would deliver. I can't help but feel like perhaps I have missed out on some really wonderful products?

Lip products and blushes don't faze me at all; some of my favourite finds costs less than £5 let alone £10 but foundations and eye liners (and to some extent mascara) are where I am most picky. Let me state it is not actually the price that puts me off from purchasing (I love a great bargain) but rather the formulation that more often than not comes with cheaper brands. I am a huge advocate of SPF and most budget brands tend to skip that element - I guess to keep the price down? I liken it a little to the once bitten, twice as shy analogy - I know I should give discounted bases and eye liners a fair crack of the whip and yet I more often than not pass them up.

Reading this back, it does seem to be thinly veiled with snobbery - I promise that was not my intention, rather I wanted to reach out and ask if anyone else shared a similar view to foundation? Or perhaps could shed a light on some great penny saving bases?